This invention relates to watthour meter enclosures for use in remote meter reading packages, and more particularly to a watthour meter cover having an opening for connecting a meter equipped with a meter data sending unit to a remote meter reading terminal unit wherein the cover is positionable at different rotated positions to orient the remote meter reading package in a desired orientation.
In remote electric power meter reading systems the disc rotations or dial register readings of a watthour meter are translated by a meter data sending unit into electrical signals for recording or transmission of the meter readings. Watthour meters equipped with a meter data sending unit are usually associated with a terminal unit and can form an integral package therewith for installation at a watthour meter socket location. One means of making connection to the meter data sending unit is through an opening in the meter cover as described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,943,498. In the aforementioned patent, a pulse initiator forms a meter data sending unit mounted within the meter and connected through the opening in the cover to a recorder unit. The recorder and meter with the sending unit are packaged in a single housing. A load research device is formed by the apparatus described in the aforementioned patent and one such housing is described in detail in U.S. Pat. No. 4,063,661 issued Dec. 20, 1977, and assigned to the assignee of this invention. The load research enclosure of the aforementioned application is mountable directly on the meter cover in different rotated positions about the cover to provide mounting of the enclosure in different positions around the cover.
Typically, watthour meters are detachably mounted at existing meter sockets so that the associated detachable meter base and meter movement have a fixed position. An opening in a cup-shaped meter cover receives a connector or cable conductors connected to the meter data sending unit with the opening normally having the same location when the cover is affixed to the meter base. Obstructions are often adjacent the meter making it difficult to assemble a remote meter reading package in a fixed relationship to a meter location. Accordingly, the present invention overcomes the limitations of a watthour meter cover which has a fixed position on the meter base when used in remote meter reading packages where obstructions are adjacent the fixed location of a watthour meter.